An Island is More Fun than She Thought
by YukinaHikaHime
Summary: Life changed drastically for her, and to escape getting on a boat was her first option. Was it the right choice? OC like all my fics. Rated T just encase.
1. A Sail that She Never Expected

**Authors Notes: Alright, I know, I know. Another story started. I just had this rush of inspiration. I recently ordered and recieved my copy of Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness and have been loving the game loads. I got some ideas for a story so I started writing this because I felt the strange inspiration. I'm also happy because of my A in my English Monologue coursework so I want to try and write some more. I feel more confident about it now so yea!**

**I hope you enjoy the start of another story. I'm still working on my others so don't worry if you've read them and thought they're not going anywhere else. They sure are!**

**Hollie-Dollie over and out!**

Walking along the planks of the docks, I made my way nervously to the large ferry that towered over me, sitting waiting in the crystal blue ocean. I stopped as a man stood in front of me at the main door to the ferry.

"Could you fill in some details for me please? A health and safety issue is all." The man queried with a simple, but effective reassuring smile.

"Ok." I nervously replied.

"Alright thank you. Just a few simple questions nothing big don't worry." The man continued with the same smile. "First, what's your name? Just your first name."

"Hollie." I replied.

"Ok thank you. Now your date of birth, or your birthday if you feel more comfortable." The continued.

"Winter 13 1993." I answered.

"Thank you, you can come on board now." The man replied with the same reassuring smile as when he greeted me.

With a nod, I walked past the man and followed the notes in my hands to my cabin. I opened the door to my lovely furnished room, which I soon heard the announcement for our departure. I sat on my soft bed in silence. I never have liked boats, and now my life's changed, it feels worse than ever.

'Why did everything have to go from bad to worse?' I thought with a sigh, slouching my head into my hands.

I looked around the room, the paintings, fireplace, and chest of drawers all piecing together to make an elegant look.

"Mum would have said this would suit me." I sighed to myself. "I only realise now why she would have said it. But it's too late to tell her."

I sat in an awkward silence for a few more minutes, staring into space at the painting of a beautiful blonde woman in a vibrant maroon dress, which was mounted opposite me on the far wall. Was I making the right decision? Leaving the city, now I'm alone. My grandparents wanted to help, even though they couldn't afford to foster a teen like me. Teens are awkward, just plain awkward, and troublemakers. So the adults say. That's what I'd hear them whisper, as I'd walk down the street, light steps silently patting the pavement as my sharp heels would guide my from building past building to the hell hole of a school that my education depended on. I hope this is the right decision. Only time will tell.

Crashing filled the room, roaring winds echoed through the walls and into the ceiling. I jumped off my bed with a scream, startled out of my daydream. I instantly ran to the window. Outside, the waves viciously crashed against each other, lightning crackled and thunder pounded outside.

"Oh no…" I whimpered in a soft whisper.

"Attention all passengers. Please make your way to the life boats, we need to evacuate." The captain's voice deeply called through the speaker box in the corner of the wall near the window, hanging off the ceiling.

Without hesitation, I ran out of my cabin, slamming the door closed behind me. Before I could reach outside, a fellow passenger grabbed me by the arm and rushed me outside when a lifeboat was being lowered into the water. The lady questioned me, asking me if I'm ok, and telling me to get on before her.

"Alright. Next life boat ready." The captain called out, his white and blue hat stating his authority.

"Come on, you better get on." The lady whispered in my ear.

With a nod, I stepped towards the ladder to the boat. I was turning around to climb down when the next thing I knew, the surface of the wild ocean was the only thing in sight.

'What… What's going on?' I questioned myself. 'Am I going to be ok?'

**Ending Notes: Alright, this is a really short chapter compared to my normal work. It's like an introduction if you get what I mean? They should be longer, so if you're excited for me just keep an eye out for the next one. Anyways, I'll leave you to your life cause I probably took up enough time anyway.**

**Hollie-Dollie over and out!**


	2. Sudden Fall Can Lead to a Sudden Change

**Authors Notes: Alright here's chapter 2, which is slightly longer than before but not as long as I had hoped but I really didn't want to go as deep into the detail as I really wanted to. Mostly cause I'm too tired. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and the reviews from the first chapter were a pleasure to read and made me smile a lot!**

**Hollie-Dollie over and out!**

I opened my weary eyes. The Sun shining down on me, causing me to shield myself with the little strength I have. With a deep exhale; I simply lay wherever I am lying. Breathing in and out, the smell of sea salt filled my nostrils, causing me to cough lightly.

"Are you ok Miss?" A deep voice called out, an elderly man looming over me.

"Uhh… Where am I?" I groaned.

"You're on Sunny Island. You must have been the one that was flung off the ferry during that storm." The man chuckled.

Grabbing my hand, I felt myself being pulled upright onto my feet. I couldn't help but stumble. The tingling feeling in my feet travelling up my leg to my waist was more than enough for me to collapse to the soft ground. Pulling my hand out of the ground, yellow grains of sand slipped through my fingers as I twiddled them back into feeling.

"Be careful dear." The man chuckled as he grabbed my arm and lifted me up again.

"Agh…" I groaned, looking at my leg, noticing the scar down my lower right leg.

"You ok?" The man questioned, a firm grip on my arm as I tried to steady my balance on my uninjured leg.

"I think so… it's bleeding!" I screeched, staring at the trickling blood that curved down the muscle dented skin, nauseating me as it stopped at my ankle. "What happened?"

"You must have caught yourself on something when you fell off the ferry. It looks like something caught your skin." The elderly man explained.

With a gulp, I allowed the man to help me off the beach to where a lady with long curly pink hair stood looking away from us. I could feel the stinging in my leg send shivers down my spine, as the tickling of blood travelled its way down the pale skin of my long thin leg.

"Oh look at you." The lady screeched, looking at the eye-catching blood on my leg.

"Well dear, we're in the same situation as you. We were on the same ferry, however we managed to get on a lifeboat." The man continued, slouching slightly. "My name is Taro, and this is my daughter Felicia."

"Nice to meet you." Felicia replied with a simple smile.

"We're back." Two voices called out in synchronisation.

A boy and girl ran up towards Felicia, smiles on their faces. The girl was fairly tall, about 5"4, wearing a green jumper and complimenting skirt. The boy was slightly smaller, about 5"3, with red hair and wearing a dark blue shirt, with lighter blue jeans.

"I'd like you to meet my children, Natalie and Elliot." Felicia explained with a kind smile.

"Nice meeting you. I'm Hollie." I replied weakly with an even weaker smile.

Looking at my leg, even with Taro's support I couldn't hold up. I crashed to the floor, Felicia called out with a high-pitched squeal. Taro called out to Elliot, demanding him to help me up by balancing my shoulder on my left while he lifted me on my right.

"That's one deep cut." Taro chuckled.

"I don't want to look at it." I whispered repeatedly to myself, closing my eyes as I felt a wave of nausea sent a shiver down my spine.

"Lets just explore this island and find somewhere for her to rest." Felicia interrupted, beckoning everyone to follow her.

Elliot and Taro continued to help me as I hopped dumbly along the dusty path. Abandoned buildings were scattered in the distance. I looked around, the sun was still shining brightly, and the layer of dust along the ground seemed almost to lose its disguise as the sun shone over the ground.

Stopping at a four way crossing, I looked around once more, questioning myself as rushing thoughts filled my troubled mind.

"People must have lived here. I mean there's buildings…" I stated.

"You're probably right. Looking at their structure, they seem to be stable. They're probably liveable if we furnish them appropriately." Taro agreed, shifting himself slightly.

"I'm not too heavy am I?" I questioned, looking to and from Elliot to Taro.

"Don't worry Hollie. You're not heavy at all." Taro chuckled, panting slightly.

I couldn't help but feel he was lying, I know I'm small, but not small enough for a man like him to handle my weight. I don't even how much I weigh but that doesn't matter.

"I'll be fine, please, I don't want to be a problem." I protested, wriggling and trying to break free.

"Relax. Stop fussing." Elliot complained, trying to grab hold of my arm.

Instantly I stopped, which seemed to cause a lot of confusion for Taro and Elliot as they continued to squirm as if I was still trying to break away. I couldn't help it but I couldn't fight back a giggle as I watched for that short moment.

"It's not funny." Elliot groaned.

"Oh but it is! Good one Hollie!" Natalie applauded with a grin.

"But please, I really don't want to be a problem!" I continued to complain, forcing my hazel eyes to stare at Taro and Elliot in a puppy-eyed fashion.

"Sorry, that little trick doesn't work on me. Natalie's used it so many times I'm used to it." Taro chuckled. "You're quite strong though, but not strong enough."

"You'll give Elliot a work out just fidgeting." Natalie teased, poking her tongue out at the frustrated red head stood to my left.

"Natalie be quiet!" Elliot shouted out.

"Come you two. Stop fighting. We need to find somewhere for Hollie to rest." Felicia interrupted.

"You're right…" Elliot sighed, a slight glance at me before looking back at his smiling Mum.

"The street up ahead looks hopeful. Elliot lets looks over here. Natalie, Felicia, stay here and try taking the boarding off one of the buildings to get a way in." Taro instructed.

With a quick agreement, Elliot and Taro led me up the street that Taro pointed out. What we didn't expect was the large field and stable buildings not far to the left and right.

"Well. Hollie? Do you think when your leg heals up you could run this ranch?" Taro quickly commented.

I thought about it for a moment. I wanted to start a new life. I mean, what could go wrong? I always dreamt of owning a farm when I was little. Maybe my childhood memory could come true. That makes me sound old! I'm not old!

"I'd love to." I replied with a smile. "I'm not completely sure how but I'll learn."

"Well you're the enthusiastic one." Taro grinned. "Actually, I used to be a rancher myself so I'll happily teach you."

"This island could really become something with a rancher. Hollie I'm sure you'll do great. I only just met you but I have faith in you." Elliot agreed with a wide grin, adjusting the glasses with his free hand.

"Uhh thank you." I nervously replied.

I don't know why it hit me but it did. Maybe it's because boys aren't generally nice to me. Not that most teen boys are. Not in the city at school at least. Maybe this is my calling. Just maybe.

"Well, there's a farm house over there so we'll get you inside and see what it's like." Taro commented.

With a nod, I allowed them to lead me over to the farmhouse Taro had pointed to. I felt silly hopping around, but it had to be done. Unlike most of the others, this building wasn't boarded up, and looked like someone had recently been living there, even though it's obvious no one has for a long time.

"Support Hollie while I get this door open." Taro instructed.

Watching the smiling red head nod in reply, Taro let go of my arm, which made me stumble slightly before Elliot caught me before I fell completely to the floor. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around the red head to keep myself up, not realising until it had happened that my arms were wrapped around his neck, and we were more than uncomfortably close. All I could was let out a small whimper. Life seemed to stop, as if the sands of time held in the hourglass of existence had been grabbed and held in the wrong hands. The heat that warmed my face is more than I can describe.

"There open." Taro chuckled. It was only after I could hear his feet shuffling that I could figure out he had turned around. "Umm you two?"

"Don't ask…" I mumbled.

"Too late, now come on. Lets get you inside." Taro chuckled.

Taro made his way and put my arm over his shoulder to lead me like before. The door was wide open and inside a furnished home was waiting for someone to care for it. Everywhere dust and cobwebs filtered the air with a musky smell that was almost sickening.

"It's not much at the moment, but I'm sure with a little cleaning it will be more than liveable." Taro continued. "Lets get you somewhere to sit down."

Before I could answer, I was guided to the bed, which was remarkably tidy with no dust or cobwebs on it at all. Elliot and Taro sat me down. Leaving me to try hard not to look at the cut, which didn't work. Fortunately though, the cut had stopped bleeding.

"Thank you." I sincerely replied, glancing at both of them before sitting silently to myself.

"Don't worry about it. It seems you've already grown close to my grandson." Taro teased with a chuckle.

I fought back the urge to argue, or snap back, but could only blush without any intention. I sat in silence as I queried myself, about life, and all the troubles within it.

"Don't say that grandpa. I simply wasn't ready to steady her up. She fell and I tried to catch her." Elliot sighed in reply to his grandpa's wit.

"Relax you two. Elliot we better leave Hollie to get some rest." Taro continued to chuckle.

The two of them left me alone in the house, sitting in silence. I knew it was no use thinking, so decided to get some rest. I lay myself back on the bed, resting my injured leg on top of my healthy one for support. I turned my torso slightly and rested my head in my hands and closed my eyes.

'Life's going to be different…' I thought before falling into a deep sleep.

**Ending Notes: Well there you have it. Hope you enjoyed it, some of it was last minute ideas and it was a giggle for me to write. If you want to review, and if not that's fine. I really love reading what you think about the stories I write so it's a pleasure for me. For now, I'll leave you to it!**

**Hollie-Dollie over and out!**


	3. Market and Mischief

**Authors Notes: Hello again, a late update I know, and a shorter chapter too. I'm sorry, but this chapter couldn't get much longer for me to write so please excuse me. I'm just glad I slacked off coursework long enough to finish this chapter. My other stories should be updated soon too if I'm lucky. I hope you enjoy it anyway. I also corrected a huge error in my typing which I'm not changing in the previous chapters. You probably won't notice though.**

I woke early the next morning, the banging on the front door startling me as I stretched shortly before sitting up on the bed I was laid on the day before. I stared at my right leg shortly, the dried blood plastering my pale skin.

The front door opened to reveal none other than Taro and Elliot creeping inside. I forced a smile as they sighed to themselves and walked inside. I tried to get up out of bed, steadily balancing myself, the sudden gasping and racing feet almost distracting as I focussed on my intentions.

"You shouldn't force yourself into walking." Taro commented, standing directly in front of me.

"But I can stand up. If I'm going to work on the farm I need to get started no matter what," I complained, trying to and succeeding in completely balancing myself on both feet.

"Don't rush yourself. You could cause more injury," Elliot snapped.

"You're right," Taro agreed, soon turning back to look at me. "Hollie, please don't push yourself. You seem to be a hardworking and fighting type but don't go past your limit."

"I won't. I don't set limits, I take what life throws at me and battle it through," I smiled, scrunching my hand into a fist and pulling off a courageous pose. It easily faded, along with my enthusiasm. "I need to."

"Just don't hurt yourself," Taro sternly mumbled.

"I won't. I may be determined but I'm always careful," I grinned, shifting the weight of my feet onto my left leg.

With a small giggle, I momentarily tried walking, which was a struggle, especially when both Taro and Elliot are crowding me, waiting for me to fall. Which I didn't. Glancing between them both, my smile grew wider and wider as I successfully kept my footing on the wooden floor, as my boots sat on the floor.

'What the heck are my boots doing on the floor? I thought I was wearing them.' I questioned myself; my querying look must have been obvious as both men laughed between them.

"Natalie and Felicia came in while you were asleep to make sure you were ok. They found your boots had fallen off and put them on the floor out of the way." Taro explained, a mischievous grin complimenting his wise face.

"You can read my mind?" I teased; smiling again as I tried taking a few more successfully manoeuvred steps.

"No, no. I'd figure out your darkest secrets other wise," Taro teased in reply, winking cheekily.

"I have no dark secrets," I laughed rolling my eyes as Taro looked at me expectantly, obviously not believing me. "Seriously."

"But you obviously have something you don't want to share, that you're locking deep inside your heart," Taro chuckled.

"Yea, yea. Sure, whatever. It's not what you're thinking if it's true though. Let me explain one thing about me, because we just met yesterday. I'm one of those girls who doesn't fall in love, because I'm stubborn and irritating to the point that I'm unbearable," I explained with a slightly sarcastic but also serious tone.

"I can tell," Taro chuckled.

Rolling my eyes once more, I limped my way over to the bed to sit down again. Grabbing my brown boots that sat on the floor at the end of the bed. I put them on, carefully avoiding touching my right leg to avoid as little pain as possible. It took a few minutes but it was done. With a smile I got myself back up on my feet, which hurt slightly as the leather of my boots rubbed against the cut, which seemed to be deeper than I thought.

"Don't walk if it hurts," Elliot interrupted, my trail of thought distracted.

"Sometimes you need to fight through pain and work towards goals even if it means something to deal with in the mean time," I explained.

Leaving both of them speechless, I looked around the room. In the far corner, near the front door, a rucksack sat amongst tools, which must be used for farming. Making my way over to them, enduring the stinging, I grabbed the bag. Inside, two small sacks of seeds, labelled with a picture of turnips sat waiting for attention. Grabbing the tools with the bag, I organised them to fit snugly in the bag. Putting the straps over my shoulders, I stood myself up right, toppling slightly but regaining my balance again.

"Well, I better get started," I smiled; rolling down my jeans on my right leg which I hadn't realised was showing my lower leg that wasn't hidden by my boots. Then adjusting the opposite leg to look tidy.

"Just don't work too hard. If you feel tired, take a break," Elliot commented.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," I assured encouragingly.

"I have to agree with Elliot. We don't want you to collapse. Especially not Elliot," Taro sternly commented before chuckling just after he had finished speaking.

"Grandpa," Elliot complained.

All I could do was raise an eyebrow. I should have expected him to say that. Ever since the 'incident', Taro's treated everything differently. Even though I told myself it didn't bother me, my face was burning up like it meant something.

'It's probably just embarrassment. Yea, embarrassment,' I thought to myself.

"Come on Elliot. We better leave Hollie to get on with work. We've kept her long enough," Taro commented.

The two of them left as I did. I closed the door, not expecting a key to clatter the heel of my boots. Picking it up, I tested it on the front door of the house, which luckily locked and unlocked the front door. Putting the rusted key in my jeans front pocket, I bid Elliot and Taro good-bye, and set out to explore the large field I saw the day before.

Everywhere, weeds, stones and branches scattered the massive field, amongst large boulders and stumps.

'This will be harder than I thought,' I groaned to myself.

I cleared a reasonable sized square of the field with only some difficulty. Taking the bag off my shoulders, I opened the zip and took out the hoe. Ploughing the ground, I could easily feel my back aching.

'Well Mum always said that the summer holidays came from kids staying home all summer to help with the harvest. Now I know how they felt all those years ago,' I thought to myself with a grateful grin. 'Well… that's what she said.'

An hour or two must have passed, the sun was shining brighter and brighter as time went on. By that time, I had planted the turnip seeds in the tilled soil and watered them with the green watering can that I had earlier packed in my bag. I wasn't ready to do much more work, so I decided it was time to explore the island.

Clutching the bag straps that hung over my shoulder, I left the farm, a smile on my face. I need to be positive, so I will be. I took a few steps along the dusty path; the one thing different about my surroundings was the building that wasn't boarded up.

"Elliot and his family must be living there," I told myself.

"Right we are!" A girls voice replied.

"Natalie. Don't scare me like that," I snapped, jumping slightly.

"Sorry. I just saw you walking by and thought I'd say hello," Natalie smiled. "Is your leg feeling better?"

"Still stings once in a while, but I feel a lot better than before. Thank you," I replied sincerely with a smile.

"Glad to hear it. Elliot was worrying about you lots last night. He doesn't get attached to people easily, or that quickly," Natalie giggled.

"I'm sure you're misjudging him. I mean, he's probably just worrying because he only met me yesterday like the rest of your family did," I replied, rolling my eyes when Natalie didn't notice.

"Well, we'll see. You're probably right, but I still think he's a little bit shocked by you. He did say he thinks you're pretty," Natalie grinned, a look of mischief in her eyes.

"Uhh… that doesn't necessarily mean anything. He could just be saying that to be nice," I protested, crossing my arms over my chest.

"But if he was saying to be nice he'd say it to your face," Natalie continued to grin.

"Ah well. We'll definitely have to wait and see," I sighed.

"Lets go explore. This island must have something to do," Natalie excused.

With a nod, Natalie and I set off following the street down to the beach where I had washed ashore. What we didn't expect was a man with a child standing on the beach.

"Oh hello," The man greeted, the small boy smiling as he set eyes on us.

"Hey," Natalie happily replied with a smile. "Oh! I'll go get my family."

Natalie ran off, leaving me to shyly stand waiting for her to return. In the meantime before Natalie came back, the two introduced themselves, the man being called Chen and the child, his son, called Charlie. In return I introduced myself, which was embarrassing because I've never been used to meeting new people like this. It was moments after I had finished introducing myself that Natalie returned with Elliot, with Felicia and Taro not far behind him.

"Sorry about that," Natalie apologised with a smile. "I'm Natalie and this is my family."

"Nice to meet you," Chen and Charlie both replied in sync.

They each bid a warm greeting and exchanged introductions. Taro took the liberty of explaining my newly assigned job for me, obviously taking into consideration that I felt far too shy to speak.

"Charlie and I intend to set up our market here. We wanted to escape the city and live a quieter life," Chen explained.

"That sounds understandable," I commented, breaking my silence.

Another awkward silence filled the air, causing me to realise how painful my leg really felt. It was a few minutes later that Taro offered to show Chen and his son to a building to set up the market. Leaving me alone on the beach, I waited before I made my own way back to the farm.

I stood on the bare soil of the somewhat dead field. Nothing was growing apart from the useless weeds that made it less than a pretty sight to look at. I couldn't help but feel slightly vulnerable. With a sudden kick in the stomach, (no not pregnancy) I shook the feeling and took off my bag and dumped it on the floor. Fair enough I had planted turnips in the soil, but a doubt was covering me like a cloud, I couldn't help but think they wouldn't grow.

"Things will be hard… but I have to try," I told myself, biting my lip as my arrogance and sceptical mind took over making dread the worst again. "Mum and Dad would want me to work hard."


End file.
